Overeducation at the start of the career: Stepping stone or trap?

Stijn Baert, Bart Cockx and Dieter Verhaest

Labour Economics, 2013, vol. 25, issue C, 123-140

Abstract: This study investigates whether young unemployed graduates who accept a job below their level of education accelerate or delay the transition into a job that matches their level of education. We adopt the Timing of Events approach to identify this dynamic treatment effect using monthly calendar data from a representative sample of Flemish (Belgian) youth who started searching for a job right after leaving formal education. We find that overeducation is a trap. By accepting a job for which one is overeducated rather than only accepting adequate job matches, monthly transition rates into adequate employment fall by 51–98%, depending on the elapsed unemployment duration. These findings challenge the career mobility thesis and imply that the short-term benefits of policies that generate quick transitions into employment must be traded-off against the long-term costs of an inadequate job match.

Keywords: Overqualification; Underemployment; School-to-work transitions; Youth unemployment; Duration analysis; Dynamic treatment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 C41 I21 J24 J64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (94)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Overeducation at the Start of the Career - Stepping Stone or Trap? (2012)
Working Paper: Overeducation at the start of the career - stepping stone or trap? (2012)
Working Paper: Overeducation at the start of the career - stepping stone or trap? (2012)
Working Paper: Overeducation at the Start of the Career: Stepping Stone or Trap? (2012)
Working Paper: Overeducation at the start of the career - stepping stone or trap? (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:labeco:v:25:y:2013:i:c:p:123-140

DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2013.04.013

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